Gaming

How often do you hear that? I know, right? But honestly, Alienware’s customer service was amazing!

As I mentioned here, my computer has been acting up since I downloaded the April Windows 10 update. Yeah, I didn’t do it until June, but I wanted them to work out all of the bugs first.

Stop laughing.

I know. I’m so optimistic it hurts.

After the Microsoft Help Desk told me it was a hardware issue, and a trip to Geek Squad confirmed it was a hardware issue, we decided to call Alienware and see if they’d stand behind their product.

The computer is just over a year old, so technically out of the warranty period, but it’s one of their better models. I had opted for an Alienware as they’re known for quality. The laptop has never left my house, never been dropped, and I don’t eat near it.

I’ve also never come close to taxing the abilities of this machine as I’d bought it because I thought we’d start gaming again now that our kids were a little older.

Yeah, I know. You’re laughing again, aren’t you?

Still not funny.

Anyway, my husband called them. Yes, it’s my machine. But he’s also the one that took it to Geek Squad. For better or worse, help desks treat men differently than they do women. As we both wanted this solved as quickly as possible, he agreed to take the lead on it.

So, he called Alienware and told them what’s going on, then gave them all of the details of the computer. They said, yes, they’ve seen this before, and it was the Windows 10 update. The update broke the Tobii eye tracking software on my model of Alienware. This is what’s causing the issue, not a broken keyboard.

Uninstalling the Windows 10 update, which we had done, was not enough to “unbreak” what the update had done to my computer.

Because of course it wasn’t. Thanks Windows!

At least the update had. No joke. It was unusable.

As it’s a software issue, they could walk him through how to fix it.

At first, I thought it was too good to be true, but Alienware customer support walked him through how to deactivate the software even though he couldn’t really type anything. He then uninstalled the software completely as he now had control of my computer, and Alienware then directed him to where to get the fixed version.

At the end of the call, my computer worked beautifully.

I will not need to be without it for a month.

I did lose a weekend, but I think I can make that up and still be on track.

Once upon a time, my desktop computer was a monster gaming system. It could power through Stormwind without so much as a flutter of lag. But that was more than two children ago, and one of those children is now in kindergarten.

Electronics simply don’t have that long of a life-cycle. So, I knew it was time to upgrade the computer over a year ago when it was running slow while I was browsing for winter coats for my daughters.

I don’t want a new computer. Not really.

I saved up and bought a really nice Alienware laptop. I figured this would last me another seven years or so.

When it arrived, it was huge. Much bigger than I expected. My husband teased me a little, asking me what I did expect when I bought the largest screen they had available. Well of course I bought the largest. I want to be able to see it, don’t I? Especially as I’m spoiled at work with not one but two massive monitors that take up most of my desk.

But along with the large monitor came a lot of weight.

Not the best thing in a laptop, but this computer was never leaving my house, so not a big deal.

The track screen was also inconveniently located and quite large. My hand kept accidentally swiping it, and I’d end up typing hallway across the screen typing where I didn’t want to be typing. I solved that by purchasing a wireless mouse and keyboard for when I write as that’s the only time it bothers me.

Classy set-up.

The big hang-up was any new laptop had to come with Windows 10 installed on the machine, and I struggled with the operating system. I just wanted to open the new computer, load my files, and go. But I couldn’t. It wasn’t that easy, especially on this new operating system.

So, I did what any writer with a full time day job would do. I stuck the new laptop in a corner, used it only when I had to, and kept using the old machine.

And prayed.

Not ideal, I know. But I was much more interested in writing and editing than I was in messing with a new operating system. And, I figured we’d eventually get it at work, and I’d have to learn it anyway.

Only, we didn’t.

Then, my desktop’s main fan stopped working.

We tinkered with it, but it was dead.

A few days later, it started making strange noises.

Yeah, it was time to put aside my writing, move the desktop computer to an out-of-the-way location, and give the laptop the spot on my desk. Then I had to transfer files. And try to remember all my passwords for all the websites I frequent. And reinstall basic software like iTunes.

So, yeah, that took a whole day, and the laptop and I are still figuring each other out.

Gratuitous Cute Cat

Combine all of this with how hectic things are at my day job, and I’ve not been nearly as productive as I would like.

But things should get back to normal here soon, and I should still be on track to get Crown Prince released this year.

How about you? Ever do a computer switch-over that didn’t go well? Or at least didn’t go as planned? What happened? How did you handle it?